The Legend of Zelda: The Path To Nowhere
by A Hero's Madness
Summary: Set after Majora's Mask, Link has a new adventure before him, and it's a heroes duty to do this... Even if it means his end. There's always a catch, even if it wasn't presented initially.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Zelda universe, not even stock in Nintendo. I'm sure you understand that if I did, I wouldn't be writing a FAN fiction, if I had any real control...

With much adieu, I give you my second attempt at a fanfiction! Enjoy.

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Chapter 1: Impromptu

The moon rides high in it's orbit, it's cascade of light bathing everything below it in an ethereal blue-white glow. The snow on the ground is fresh, only laid down an hour or so earlier. The tree's retain their needles, but others lose their leaves, nature not making any sense to most persons who might observe it.

"hunna...ugh...mah, ack...", came from a grumbling form we cannot see.

One tree we can see, has a ladder and deck built onto it, along with an opening covered by a thick cloth. If one was to simply brush it aside, they would gain entrance. Stepping into the room, we'd find a small bed occupied by a body that's just a little too big for it, and a well furnished, tidy room.

Here, our sight ends, as another's begins...

Ruins are everywhere, the ground black and cracked, the sky red and dusty. This is the picture one gets, when thinking about the end of the world. With a harsh wind blowing, and the dust filling his lungs, Link coughs as he looks around for something, anything to tell him where he is

A piercing shriek has Link's sword jump into his hand and spin around. With a shocked gasp, he almost drops it, and Link then noticed what he was actually holding. It's not his trusted gilded sword, it's the double helix blade he grew familiar with in Termina. Eyes prying forward, Link was aghast with disgust, and fear at what was in front of him.

Three gleaming triangles that have been so familiar to him, but different. Tilted onto their point, that wasn't the thing that made his stomach cringe. Zelda was nailed upon it, hanging sullenly with a paleness only death can bring. With his fear still in his chest, Link reached forward to remove a nail and leaped back when he saw her head move.

"Link...", the head had said, as it twisted almost mechanically till it was sideways to the ground, natural but unnatural all at the same time. Her eyes open but unfocused, Link can feel his soul being pierced as he stood there before this... abomination of everything he's ever known.

"The world will be undone, if not stopped", was barely audible on the whipping wind. Simultaneous with that, Zelda began bucking against the nails, her body gyrating and thumping against the Triforce, trying to get off.

"The Hero, The Princess, The Thief", again this was barely able to be heard upon the fearsome winds, and again made more difficult by the piercing screech emitting from Zelda, her body still trying to buck it's way off the nails.

"The Fallen, The Dancer, The Gladiator", the wind at a crescendo now, the black-red dust filling Link's nose, his lungs, his skin, everything. Zelda's piercing wails have toned down to the moans of a dying woman, as if that was any better. Blood has begun to seep from her ears, and eyes, along with where she was nailed to the Triforce.

"All are necessary, each must come", the voice spoke in a subdued whisper again. With this, the wind stopped suddenly, the dust in the air simply... Floating, in this space. Zelda hung there, limply. The Triforce was dull, used up looking.

"Before the end", and this whisper spoken in complete silence seemed to reverberate across this land, this place of desecration, this place of unholy disgust. Link stepped backwards, and crunched something underfoot. Looking at it, he saw it was the shards of the Kokiri Emerald. Off to the side he saw the Goron Ruby, and the Zora Sapphire.

The Temple of Time? In ruins? Behind the Triforce was a broken Mastersword, it's blade rusted and in disrepair.

Zelda suddenly filled his vision, her torn and bloodied royal dress, her arms and legs with holes he could see all the way through, her hair so matted and brittle at the same time. Her arms circled around him, encircled him with her death, her eyes not seeing as she tilted her face to his...

"Save me Link.. Save me from you."

With that, this world shattered. The stench he just noticed, the cracked dry earth, the ruins of what he knew so well, the blood red sky, all gone.

All that remains, is his room, his bed, his childhood. His twelve year old body was whole, was fit, and Link was relieved not covered by the sickening grime of that... nightmare. With a groan, Link gets up careful to not wake Navi sleeping on his pillow. With his bare feet on the cold floor, Link was swift. To his flap he looked outside, just after midnight.

"Still time to sleep, I suppose..." was uttered from him. Turning back to his bed, he stopped and just looked at it. At the head of it, next to where his face was, was the mask from Termina. Not a mask, the mask. The one that gave him an adult Hylian body, if not that of a god... Grabbing it, Link stuffs it back into his sack, and jumps into bed under the somehow icy cold covers again.

With practiced ease, Link falls asleep again, to forget his troubles but he couldn't help but utter, "before the end".

The moon's arc ended quickly, time speeding forward, waiting for no man. The sun cracked over the tree filled horizon, the bright light illuminating everything in it's golden rays. With this, Link's covered windows let in dimmed light, going from almost pitch black, to workably sight oriented. A groan emerged from Link's form, as the light hit his eyelids as it caused him to roll over and hide from it.

However, a green demon stood in his doorway, the drape swung widely to the side. If one could see this, they would know that this...being, to put it so, sole purpose was the causing of pain to others. A slight cackle was heard, and a lilting voice bespoke, "Link..."

Link groaned in automatic response, seeking to slumber that extra hour or so... But the demon would have none of this! She, the demon was a she, jumped upon him! With the rustling of fabric and gasps and groans, Link was awoken.

"Leave me, foul beast! Sleep is mine only repose from this world so cruel!" cried Link, his mouth working before his mind.

"Whiner, you'd get up at noon if I'd let you!" screamed the indignant girl, Saria. She crossed her arms as she sat cross legged, at the side of his bed. Picking up something from the nearby table, she thrust it under Link's nose.

"Wassat?" Link asked slightly cross-eyed, holding the underside of the bowl with his hand automatically, and looking for a spoon, before snatching it out of Saria's hand. Naturally Link spooned it into his mouth, the whitish yellow goop strangely appetizing.

"Link. It's porridge. You ask me this every day, and I say the same thing... I added a bit of honey to it, as well." She smirked as Link's face blanched when he got a spoonful of the substance that hadn't been stirred in.

"Too much!" Link stuck his tongue out after swallowing, one of his eye's screwing up. Remembering his dream, he rationalized today would be a good day to see Zelda, not that he wanted the apocalypse or anything to come.

"Saria, I'm leaving the forest today." Link said quietly as he set it down beside him in bed. Saria looked at Link with wide eyes, her mouth slightly agape.

"I had a dream, that...It's going to sound stupid but... I had a dream that it was up to me to save the world from destruction." Link said this with a tone of finality in his voice, his eyes downcast, his back rigid. He hated moments like this.

"I...Alright Link. I knew you'd leave again, Link. It was just a matter of time..." Saria said with a sad smile on her face. She stood up, and looked around his home. "Should I keep this place up? Or do we let someone else move in...?"

"I'm not really sure Saria, but whatever you do will be right. I have to see Princess Zelda, she's going to be the key to understanding this dream." Link said as he stood up, his bowl of porridge forgotten upon his bed.

"I'll wait over by the log tunnel, the one to the big field we can't go to... Alright?" Saria said with a slightly hopeful look to her, but still smiling her sad smile.

"Alright Saria... Thank you." Link said with little conviction to his voice, hollow sounding to himself. Saria left his room, and he was left alone with the nip of cold.

Pulling closed his drape, Link turned around and began to undress out of his pajamas, into his normal clothes. Leggings, undershirt, tunic, belt, socks, boots. Hat! Instinctively, Link belted on his sword and sheathe, their weight comforting to him. Having slid his shield on, Link fitted his bomb bag, wallet, and hookshot onto his belt. Fitting his boomerang in the small of his back in his belt, Link felt better. Almost forgetting his mask bag, Link threw that on as well, and shoved the Ocarina of Time into his tunic's inside pocket.

Looking around his room, he grabbed his six bottles and stored them about his person somehow, and finished his surveying of his very tidy room. Satisfied he left nothing behind, he threw on a dark green scarf and his old gauntlets and set out.

Climbing down, Link tried to reason out what he was doing. He was leaving the paradise of the Kokiri Forest, to go see Princess Zelda, and explain to her the world is in imminent danger if he didn't save it.

He'd heard worse before. He'd done the same. Feet hitting the ground, Link spun around and crunched his way on the soft snow packed ground to the exit and entrance of the Kokiri Forest, and could see Saria in her green clothes just like his, waiting for him.

"Link! Aren't you forgetting something?" Saria asked as she held onto Navi, who had come back after he returned from Termina. Saria handed Link Navi, and he stuck her under his hat, easily one of the warmest places on him.

"Thanks Saria... She would've never forgiven me if I went on another adventure without her." With that, Link heard Navi grumbling in her tiny voice, telling him to shut up and get on with it, ruining her sleep. Link chuckled with humor as he knew that pain all too well.

Link scooped Saria up in a hug and spun her around, setting her down again. All too soon, both of them were concerned, really. Saria stepped aside from the tunnel, and nodded slowly.

With that, Link took off at a jog into the world outside, glad again to be moving again. Glad to travel. Glad to adventure, his step was light, his feeling on the end of happiness, Link felt... great, for the first time in a long time.

Coming across the final tree that really signified he was out in the Hylian Field, Link shielded his eyes. It was a white winter land, the snow thick, and up to his knees. In the distance he could see the Lon-Lon Ranch, it's great stone walls ever a comfort to any traveler willing to do some work, and any friend of the family.

With a sigh and quick breath of harsh winter air, Link strode forward, content to be moving. Looking at the sky, he noted the clouds were dark and heavy. Not the best news for travel, but he had to move. With urgency in step, Link plodded forward.

About a fifth of the way to the ranch, which meant a tenth of the way to Castle Town, the wind kicked up, blowing loose snow at his side. Again, he continued to move forward, conscious of the impending storm that felt so near.

About halfway to the ranch, Link was about two miles off as the wind worsened even more so. It began to snow as well, causing a white, blinding wind to obscure everything from him. Unable to see ten feet in front of himself, Link shivered in the onslaught. He needed shelter, and soon. His hands began to lose feeling, and his teeth have started their chattering as well.

Link fell down multiple times, his legs either numbed so much and unable to compensate for the terrain, or the wind blowing him over. Link thought he could see a wall in front of him at one point, but it was simply a trick of the eyes, snow, and wind.

After struggling in this snowstorm, a blizzard in truth, Link made it to the gate of the ranch. Stepping inside the walls, he breathed a sigh of relief. He must've been out in that for two and a half hours, maybe more... Disgusting ordeal.

Link made his way to the house, still shivering and chattering, wet and cold. Stepping in, the warmth of the happy fire almost made him pass out. Link looked around, and didn't see Talon, nor Ingo. Making a ruckus, Link tripped over what amounted to be nothing, and crashed onto the floor. Thumping heard upstairs, someone helped him to over by the fire. By the fiery red hair, Link knew it was Malon.

"Link... You need to eat something, and keep moving. You're deathly cold." Malon said to Link, with a determined look in her eyes.

After an hour or so of her ministrations, Link was out of any real danger, and Malon content with Link's status. Icy blue eyes met with warm water, Link finally broke down and smiled, and Malon deepened her smile as well.

"So, what possessed you to leave in this massive snow storm?" Malon asked casually, but was very interested in this, wanting to know if he's actually as crazy as the situation made it look like.

"I had to go to Castle Town. I needed to talk to Zelda, and look through the library there." Link responded openly, freely, and easily.

"That...and it wasn't a snowstorm at the time I was out there. It really all happened so fast... What time is it?" Link said as he took a swig of warmed milk, helping take the residual chills away.

"Well, it's... six thirty? Yeah, six thirty." Malon responded looking at the clock behind Link. After responding, she saw Link deep in thought.

"Well, I left Kokiri Forest at about seven am... and made it out to the field at about seven thirty, and I've been here for about an hour so it...took me ten hours?" Link said in a light mumble retracing everything he had done and figuring out the times, gradually getting louder and louder, till he screamed out the last three words.

"Ten hours? To get from Kokiri Forest to here? Must've been dragging, or gotten twisted around..." Malon said with shock in her eyes. No wonder he came in half frozen, and from the worst storm of the year so far!

"I hardly believe myself, Malon... But the clock isn't wrong, and I know when I left the forest." Link said as he slumped in his chair, enjoying the warm plush blanket about him, and the meaty cushions under him.

"...Are you leaving again, Link?" Malon suddenly asked, flashing back to the times where Link told her fantastic stories about how he went here, or did this, and saved that. She knew he wasn't lying, and it wasn't a boastful story telling. It was almost therapeutic, in that he needed someone to tell, and she was his someone to talk to.

"Yes... Yes I am leaving again." Link said hollowly, not really wanting to now that he was here with his friend, and ruin the joy he was having by simply being around her.

"Oh...I... I see." Malon said sadly, her pretty face screwing up slightly, tears in the corners of her eyes. She continued to look at Link, not moving, and not saying anything else. She wouldn't push him away by going close to him...

"Don't be sad Malon... It just means I'll have more stories for you." Link cooed gently, halfway not believing he'll come back, unsure of if he could really tell her half the things he's ever done. His eye's drooped sadly, knowing no one else he could tell anything to, or tell at all.

"And...if you don't come back?" Malon asked, her face burying itself into the blanket she had around her as she sat across from him, hiding everything but her eyes, and her hair even obscuring those.

"I will, Malon, I will." Link said with a burst of confidence he didn't really feel, with enthusiasm and vigor he didn't really have. Life was uncertain, and Link knew this well.

The wind's howling over the house ceased, and it simply stopped. The two of them looked at each other with a shock about them, and Link jumped up, glad to be out of that conversation. Their quick shuffle to the windows, they saw the sky was clear, and the storm gone. Link and Malon slipped outside, both of them ready to dart should the hint of the storm come back, but the skies were an icy gray, awash in their own darkness subduing the light from the sun.

The storm was over, and so suddenly. Link looked over the horizon to see the moon and sun both in the sky at the same time. An omen to leave, and get on with this. Link turned to Malon and took her into an embrace, his arms squeezing her tightly.

"Don't worry about me Malon. You'll hear my story, one way or another." Link said as he still held onto her, and then let go, and turned away walking already.

"Link... be careful!" Malon shouted at him, stepping forward herself with force. Link looked over his shoulder at her, and waved, disappearing around the corner.

"Silly fairy-boy..." Malon said just above a whisper. Or was she the silly one, for wishing the fairy-boy was hers? She didn't know, and wouldn't. She went inside and sat staring at the fire.

Link trudged through the new snow easily, his spirits high, and his energy back. It was hard shutting the gate, and not running back in to spend more time with Malon but... the duty of a hero is to everyone, even at the expense of himself, he told himself.

Link made it in record time to Castle Town, reaching the gates of the castle at about eight o'clock at night, and made his way up the wall fairly easily.

"Thank the Goddesses for the hookshot..."

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First chapter, complete! The chapter of goodbyes, it seems. It'll pick up more in the next chapter, I assure you. First one must set the stage, before one may begin the play...

Reviews are always welcome! Criticism or congratulation, both or neither! I like hearing from my audience.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from Zelda, or even Nintendo. My interpretations on characters are my own, however. I'm sure my readers understand, but it doesn't hurt to be too careful...

The second chapter of this story!

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Chapter 2: Red Skies at Night

"Thank the Goddesses for the hookshot..." Link breathed lightly, as he was yanked up to the top of the bridge. With a slight gulp, he pushed off from the top of the bridge and begins to fall, breaking his fall with a roll just as he hit the ground.

Standing up, Link sighed that that ordeal was over. Looking through the fairly empty square of the town, it was time to move on he thought.

About halfway through the Castle Town's central point, Link spots something in the shadows. A person was watching him and simply standing there. With the hairs on the back of his neck erecting themselves, Link forced himself to walk normal, which made it all the easier to see it was forced. A cobbled stone caught his foot and Link tripped again, the snow obscuring the uneven ground.

Face in the snow, Link flipped over his senses screaming at him that he needed to move, and fast. With sudden grace Link stood up and his scarf blew about him as the wind kicked snow in his face.

"Damned wind..." Link grumbled and then looked behind him. The pathway to the bridge had six people standing about an arm apart, in a row. Unmoving and unperturbed by the snow they stood stock still, as if stone.

"This is a weird, weird night..." Link told himself silently as he turned around and began to move quickly toward the castle, eyes still cast behind him over his shoulder. Whipping his head around to see in front of him, he was greeted by a similar sight, six persons standing an arm abreast, in a row. They blocked his path to the castle.

With his breath quickening, Link looked around himself as his body began to slow down and relax. Six in front... Six in back... And six and six to both sides. All of them raise their left arms, and pull out a sword with their right hand, the left reaching behind them to retrieve their shields.

The moon bright in the sky shed it's illumination upon the square with a greater intensity, the sky clear aside from the glowing sphere. The twenty-four figures uniforms stood out now, blood red armor over a dark blue-black cut of cloth, almost robe like. All striding forward, their respective sword arms raised high above their bodies.

With a flourish, Link drew his Hylian Sword. The gilded blade was reforged after coming home from Termina, Biggoron took his time on this fine blade. The green winged hand guard matched his tunic, Link swept it in a crescent in front of his body and retrieved his shield. Standing at the ready, Link waited patiently on their slow, deliberate advance.

As they were twenty feet away, the snow started to melt, the water slippery but more true to the earth than the disguising snow. Their footsteps all happened at the same time, the sound not unlike a heavy drum one would beat, when going to war. Link's grip on his sword tightened, and he closed his eyes as he held his head back to look at the sky. Opening his eyes again, he stepped into a fighting stance with what could only be described as the calmness one gets when death is imminent.

The figures screeched in a sound no man or woman alive could make, the wail carrying for miles. The sky reddened, and the wind whipped relentlessly into a small gale. Six paces away, Link could feel the heat, the sticky humidity, and a smell of decay upon the air, even though the winds moving as fast as it is.

Link's patience finally burst, and he ran forward, diving under the horizontal strokes and retaliating with a spinning slash, a burst of energy discharged from his sword in a bright green-blue shockwave. The other lines of armored foe ran forward and Link was fighting in a sea of crimson and blackness, the stench of rot on the air.

Link spun on his heel and crouched, a whirling dervish of destruction. With sword on the high, one of the armored foes cut into Link's chest leaving a fine line on it. With a roar of anger he kicked up at the foes unarmored chin sending the helmet flying. With shock, Link saw it was himself. Swing his sword at the neck of the foe, he decapitated it. A sword bit into his back, and sent Link sprawling forward to his knees.

"They're...me?" Link thought as he struggled up, swords all around him swinging, thrusting. With a look of sickness upon his face, he realized that they were the rotting smell, he was the rot in a removed way. With a spin of his shield and sword, Link cleared the enemies away from himself, earning a second of respite.

"Poor imitations though. I'm not dead, or right handed!" Link shouted, jumping over a thrust aimed at his stomach and wheeling a kick into the attackers face. As Link came down his sword followed, cleaving one of these, shades, if you will. A sword bit into his calf, and Link tottered, his base cut out from him.

"We're not you. You're us!" Screamed one of the Link's, it's teeth blackened and rotten, foul breath and bloody eyes dripping. With a wail, he pounded his chest and charged forward... Right onto Link's outstretched sword.

With a grunt, Link felt a sharp pain in his stomach but ignored it. With abandon, Link stood up ignoring his leg and leaped forward cleaving another foe in half, Link ached from shoulder to hip. Spinning and letting the momentum use his hurt leg like a club, Link knocked another down as he slew it too with a quick chop to the neck from his trusted blade.

Sliding to the side of the next foes attack, Link brought his sword up, cleaving it's sword arm away. A sword bit into Link's back deeply, the blade scoring no true victory except to enrage the Hero. With a spin and a roar, Link brought his sword up vertically from the ground to high above his head, the back stabber cut in two.

Seeing their comrades so easily destroyed, they wailed again more terribly than before. They rushed forward screaming, "For the nihil!" each of them fierce, swift, and strong... Just like him. Link struck one down instantly, felling another with a vicious backhand swipe and knocking it over with his shield.

The fight went on forever, the ground drenched in blood, the sky the same color. The air whipped about sourly, the smell of rot still in the air. Link stood over the twenty four bodies, triumphant but injured himself. Each one of those...beings, he destroyed felt like he was ripping himself apart. Red lines danced across his tunic, face, arms, and legs, hands as well. Rent to shreds, Link stood over the bodies, wondering how he came out of it alive. Navi was nowhere to be seen, and he checked under his hat... Gone. With a sigh, Link sat down on one of the planters and tried to dust himself off.

The dust came flaking off, but so did his skin. The wind stopped as Link was brushing himself, and his left hand lost it's flesh, the muscles falling away, the bone crumbling. Screaming, Link stood up in shock as the wind blew again, and his body shivered as it was being taken by the wind. A brick wall rushed his face, what was left of it anyways...

And Link woke up on the ground next to the drawbridge. Trembling, Link brought his hand to his face and it was whole. Almost crying, Link stood up so happily, feeling his body with his hands and treasuring the fact of his completeness. Rubbing his nose, he wiped away some blood from his fall and walked forward.

Link looked at the square, and could see nothing about it odd. No sign of anyone behind him, no one was out tonight, even the dogs were gone, as well having gone elsewhere for the winter he supposed. All that hung around in winter was misery, and it's companion, silence.

Psyching himself up for it, Link strode forward caution to the wind listening as well as any can with this blasted wind whistling and wailing in his ears... Coming to the center of the square, he could see no one looking at him, no figures, no six by six by six by six waiting for his trip.

Link tripped again, his foot catching the same cobbled stone it had in that... vision? Nightmare? Whatever it was. Getting up and shaking the snow off, Link looked around again. Nothing, again, nothing. His nerves on the edge, he loosened his sword in the sheath at his back. Link's hackles rose, he was worked up over nothing, and strode forward to show his displeasure.

Link passed through the rest of the square without trouble, his mood sour and angry. Grumbling to himself, he pulled himself up the frozen vines on the wall.

Sneaking around the guards was easy, and the moat wasn't too bad. Well, that was till he got out, the wind still terribly fast. Blue skinned, Link swore he looked like a Zora right now, but trudged on anyways to the hole into the gardens.

"Good, no guard tonight..." Link smiled as he came out all the way. Looking up at the moon, Link guessed the time was about ten thirty pm., and made his way around the sluggish guards, dripping wet the entire time. By the time he got to the usual stained glass courtyard, he was going to swear off water for a year.

Seeing Zelda so obviously not there, Link knew it was time for his favorite kind of shenanigans. Sliding open a window, Link let himself in, shut it, and dropped to the floor below. Slinking through the halls, up and down stairs, through great room and small... Link made it to his target.

Stuffing his tunic full of pastries, Link again began his adventure to Zelda's room. Finding it fairly quickly, he devoured the foodstuffs outside the door, altogether not really caring if he spilled any crumbs. Decently dry from his escapade but still cold, Link hoped Zelda had a fire going in her room...

And was not disappointed as he let himself in, and shut the door quietly. Link sneezed, and Zelda gasped in shock as she heard it, fumbling with the book in her hands and stuffing it under the sheets. Link made out a woman on a balcony and a man reaching toward her on the cover of the book, and snickered.

"Reading trashy love novels again? You know I always say they're going to rot your brain..." Link spilled out, not at all humble sounding about it.

"Link, sheesh! Knock! What if you catch me in a...compromising situation?" Zelda started out fiery, but ended asking almost innocently, sending Link into a fit.

"Compromising situation? Well, excuuuuuse me princess, but the state of your room is a huge one!" He jabbed a finger out at her, teasing her about the unkempt style of her room.

As one looked in Zelda's room, the clothes on the floor covered a good amount of it, and the of course, ever present unmentionables lurking just beyond... Well, everything. It was a minefield of clothing, and Link swore her closet must be empty with all she had laying about.

Zelda looked miffed, and crossed her arms. Her golden hair hung in waves on the sides of her face and back, reaching just below the shoulders. Her dark blue eyes dangerous in the pretty face of her, her milky pale skin perfect, her figure starting to blossom... Link shied away, looking out her window at the snow blowing across it.

"Zelda, I came here be-" Link was saying, before he was cut off by Zelda who talked over him.

"Because of a nasty dream, saying something about "before the end", right?" Zelda asked, her face grim.

"Yes... as I was about to say, yes." Link replied hesitantly, not wanting to get caught up by her interruptions again. Looking at her squarely, Link's cheeks flushed a little, the gown she wore white, and very thin.

"Well... I know there's more words, but I couldn't hear them due to someone screaming." Zelda said, her eyes aghast in the memory that came rolling back, the graphicness of the dream haunted her features for a second, before she set a look of determination across it.

"I know them, they're burned into my consciousness." Link volunteered quickly, and found a quill and parchment. Taking a few seconds, he wrote it out, his handwriting small, neat, and if at all anything shy.

Taking the paper up into the air, Link read it aloud.

"The world will be undone, if not stopped

The Hero, The Princess, The Thief,

The Fallen, The Dancer, and The Gladiator,

All are necessary, each must come

Before the end."

Zelda sat in a look of contemplation, running through her mental library of legends, stories, and histories. Nothing was coming up, nothing sounded similar to her. With a wave of her hand, she unclenched her jaw and sat back, not even noticing she had her jaw clenched and her body tensed till she relaxed.

"I'm not familiar with any of that so... We'll have to do some digging in the library, Link." Zelda replied quietly lost in thought, and then sighed.

"Coming to bed? It's late, Link." Zelda said in a sweet voice, so natural sounding it was almost as if she practiced these words.

"Huh? I guess I am tired... Wait, what?" Link said jerking to the side and looked at Zelda. With an innocent composure, Link replayed what Zelda had just said.

Link blushed, and stammered a little, standing up and retreating to the door, Zelda called out to him.

"Link..." Link looked back at Zelda, his face awash with redness. Zelda wondered if that was the cold, the heat, or her. She bit her lip a little bit, and stopped as Link ducked out the door.

"Silly little hero..." Zelda smiled, and laughed a little to herself. So, he's still a boy, but he is growing up, even if he can't see it.

As Link shut Zelda's door, he leaned back against it and slid down it, the carpet soft and thick under him. Invited to the princesses bed? He must've heard wrong, she must've been tired, and this has to be one of his delusions, like earlier. Those...swordsmen were so real, it hurt.

Ducking into the room next to Zelda's, Link slunk in and eased himself into the bed this room being a guest room. The room was warm, the sheets and bedding soft and comfortable, Link drifted off to sleep...

...Until he was awoken with a finger jabbed into his forehead. Over Link stood Impa, the tall Sheikah woman he grew to respect, and even fear a little bit. The long knife strapped to her leg was always ready to be snatched up and used at a moments notice, and Impa was quicker than a silver-snake...

"So, I see you made it to the castle, Link. What time did you get in, and... why does no one report seeing you? And, why are a large number of pastries specially made for the foreign diplomat that were to keep till dawn, gone before even midnight?" With each question Impa asked, she jabbed her finger into his forehead a little harder, until Link swore she could bore through stone with that.

"Too late by castle regulations, and no one reports seeing me as I made my own way in. The pastries are missing because the diplomat got up and ate them during the night." Link lied through his teeth, and Impa knew.

"I understand Link and besides... we don't like this foreign diplomat either, so this small inconvenience was almost welcomed." Impa said with a smile, and opened the drapes. The cruel mid morning sunlight filtered in. Link groaned and sat up.

"You know, this whole morning thing might just kill me, one day..." Link sighed as he got up, and shook himself off.

Zelda bounded in the room and grabbed Links hands and bounced up and down around him, dragging him in a circle.

"Link! Today we get to go to the royal library, and read, and read, and read..." Zelda continued on, reading being one of her passions.

"Only as long as it isn't any of that...reviling romance trash you do so dearly love, and for the dream we had." Link said, stopping the spinning as Zelda stopped as well, and let go of her hands. Zelda fumed at his insult, and stuck her tongue out at him and stormed off.

"Link, I agree with you on their value but... Perhaps you aught to explain it to her another way, next time." Impa chuckled out, and tousled his cap. She motioned for him to follow her, and she led the way to the library.

Zelda was already pouring over a few volumes, and Link sat next to her, looking over her shoulder and arm at it and didn't seem to really be doing anything of worth.

"Link, go find a book." Zelda said in an imperious voice, not wanting to do this alone. Sighing, he went to the cases and cases of books, idly looking through them. Impa appeared next to him nearly giving him a heart attack, and handed him two books. Link went back over to the table Zelda was sitting at, and sat across from her with his two books.

All three of them were idly leafing through pages, looking for any mention of it. Link found nothing in his first book of note, just the legend of the Three Goddesses, and the Triforce story he'd heard many times, and at one point that hadn't happened but did, lived it. Link looked at the second one, and noticed it was in what amount to gibberish to him.

"Hey Zelda, what's this stuff?" Link asked quietly, looking at a few pictures in the book and not really being able to understand something till he saw a sword. The sword was identical to the sword he carried, and looked at it with his face screwed up.

"That word says... 'Hero', I think." Zelda said, and snatched the book from him. She read the cover of it in this strange language, and Impa looked over at her.

"Zelda, dear... That's not even archaic Hylian, that's ancient Hylian!" Impa said surprised. No one ever educated Zelda in this, perhaps it was her portion of the Triforce at work.

"No one's been able to read that for a few hundred years, at least!" Impa said enthusiastically. Zelda read the title of it once in ancient Hylian, and spoke it so Link and Impa could understand it.

"The...Book...of...Nothing? No, The Book of... Nowhere." Smiling at herself proud she's done what others could not, she read the first passage as it was simple, simple language.

"From this, I gather we've got to head past the Gerudo desert, to a small town on the edge of it..." Zelda said with her brow furrowed. This was hard work, translating this language.

"We? Zelda, you're staying at the castle!" Link shouted, worried for her safety. Shutting the book, Link stood with his arms crossed looking almost angry.

"No one else can translate it and... I'm probably the princess. Especially considering I had the dream as you did."

Link blanched, his jaw open and eyes wide. Zelda made too much sense, and he hated himself for having no quick or easy retort. Seems his quick wit wasn't enough this time.

"Well, get ready then." Link grumbled, looking out at the sky through the window. Noon, or close to it he guessed. Impa looked at Link, and nodded.

The two women were gone for about half an hour getting Zelda's possessions in order. Link lazed about just at one of the doors that let out to the stables, still inside enjoying the warmth and hospitality of the castle, their foods delicious.

Zelda and Impa strode up, Zelda the only one with a pack. Link looked confused at Impa, the caretaker, the Sheikah that scared even him, the bearer of the Triforce of Courage.

"I won't be with you two till later...I have some business to attend to first." Impa volunteered, and smiled as Link looked on with shock.

"Link, you're to be my bodyguard. You're responsible for my safety, along with yours. We suppose The Hero of Termina deserves a little job..." Zelda smirked as she revealed the title that she had carefully began to spread about the kingdom.

"Huh? I didn't tell you that..." Link stumbled upon himself, opening up the door to the outside which was thankfully placid, the wind blowing which felt like a slight miracle. Link went through his mind, and couldn't remember for the life of him who he told besides Malon, or Saria...

"I suppose it doesn't matter, then..." Link said quietly not sure if he really liked not knowing how she knew his secret. Impa smiled.

"Well, looks like you two are off to a beautiful trip!" Impa said loudly, and the three of them entered the stables.

* * *

Second chapter is complete! This chapter was a joy to write, and I felt it came out very well and genuine to me. The play has begun, my dear audience... I hope to take away your breath and hold you rapt in attention.

Criticism is welcome, as is praise! Reviews are a joy to me, even if they're quick three second ones.

Thank you for reading!


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